Bon Appétit’s Restaurant and Drinks Editor, Andrew Knowlton, spent 120-days and traveled over, 26,333-miles through, 22 states to compile his list of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America. He picked two restaurants from Dallas: FT33 and Spoon.

On Spoon he writes:

A magazine once labeled Spoon’s John Tesar “the most hated chef in Dallas.” We’re willing to look past that when the food’s this good. With Tesar, landlocked Dallas gets an ode to the ocean in his fiercely original seafood dishes, and the mod white-and-black space leaves you feeling like you’re dining in a (stylish) aquarium.

On FT33 he writes:

While the food scenes in Austin and Houston continue to gather buzz, chefs like Matt McCallister are out to make sure Dallas gets cred right alongside them. His contemporary cooking (duck breast with pickled celery root; grouper with charred local potatoes) is nothing if not precise—no surprise, given that the guy worked at Alinea and Daniel. The Design District space that houses FT33 is easy on the eyes, but the attention’s on the plate.

On Wednesday, August 14 Bon Appétit will narrow the list to The Hot 10: The Best New Restaurants in America including Knowlton’s pick for the Restaurant of the Year. Here’s a link to the story.